Homemade Bath Fizzies Science Experiment with Netflix

Disclosure: I am a member of the Netflix Stream Team, and was provided with a year of service and an Apple TV. Each month, I’ll be participating in challenges. All opinions are my own.

With Science Fairs starting around the nation for our children, Netflix encouraged us to jumpstart our kids’ imaginations this month and teach them about science. My husband is a scientist, and my children are boys, so I knew that this would be something that they would love.

I love that Netflix has a variety of science-themed shows to choose from. We decided to watch Jimmy Neutron Boy Genius. After the first three minutes, Benson said, “This is going to be awesome!”

It was.

They were totally captivated and their imaginations were ignited. Immediately after the movie, they went outside and played rocket ship with the swings.

I wanted to take the lesson even further, though, with a fun science experiment that we could do at home. When I came across this recipe for homemade bath fizzies, I knew that they would love them. They are so easy to make and the *perfect* “experiment” for a young scientist.

Mix together the drink mix, flour, and baking soda in a small bowl. In a separate bowl, stir together the baby oil and food coloring. Slowly add the baby oil mixture to the dry mixture, stirring to mix well.

Form the mixture into 1-inch balls. It will make about three bath fizzies.

The science is pretty simple. The acidity of the lemon drink reacts with baking soda, just like the vinegar and baking soda volcano. The baby oil is used, because it’s just mineral oil, which is pretty neutral on the pH balance, and it will also keep the drink mix from dissolving and reacting with the baking soda while the balls are made. Once in the water, the drink mix begins to dissolve in close proximity to the baking soda, and in higher concentrations than consumed, and begins to react

Olive oils and coconut oils might not work as well because of differing pH levels. Mineral oil based balls will store better. Coconut oil would probably slow or stop the water from dissolving the drink mix because of the higher melting point, it might result in a “water-proofed” ball.

This looks like great fun! Any idea if something like rice flour would work instead of regular flour? One of my girls has to be gluten free and I was hoping the substitution wouldn’t interfere with the reaction.

You can use any other flour. The flour is just used as a binder. It holds everything together once the oil dries and slows the reaction down so that you just end up with a flash of bubbles and then you’re done. Using something that is less fine will mean grit on the bottle of the tube and the ball might break apart faster, making it not last as long, but it won’t drastically impact the fun.

OK I really need more science experiment ideas like this. Very cool! Your post isn’t tagged with anything that can help me see more science experiments (if you have them). That would be helpful, or if you could post a link> Thank you!

Meet Arena

Arena is the wife of a Nerd and mom of a toddler who loves his Star Wars blankie a little too much. She shares parenting adventures, yummy recipes, and great photography on this Dallas mom blog. thenerdswife@gmail.com

Meet Jet

Jet is the mom of three kids under the age of four. When she's not wrestling kiddos, she enjoys coaching middle school cross country with her husband. She lives in New Mexico and writes about fashion and style. jet@thenerdswife.com

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